Cajun Sports

The Boston Red Sox are in the City of Brotherly Love playing a mini two-game interleague set against the host Philadelphia Phillies. The Sox took Game One on Tuesday with a 2 to 1 victory over the Phillies. The home team will look to get the split in Game Two tonight these teams have already played a two-game set in Boston earlier this season with that series ending with a win apiece. In their win last night the Red Sox needed a pinch hit go-ahead homer in the eighth inning to grab the Game One victory. The Red Sox have been red-hot this month winners in eleven of twelve trips to the diamond while their opponent has lost four of their last five trips. The Red Sox will send Nathan Eovaldi to the bump with his 5-4 SU record and his ERA of 3.74 on the season. Eovaldi is coming off an outing in which he allowed eight runs which was the second time that has happened in his last five trips to the hill. In that last outing he allowed ten hits in just two and two-thirds innings of work against the Baltimore Orioles. Back on July 13 the Twins ripped him for eight runs this was while he was still on the Rays team prior to his trade to the Sox. The Phillies will send right-hander Vince Velasquez to the hill with his 8-9 SU record and an ERA of 3.98 on the year. Velasquez suffered his first loss since June 25 last Wednesday after allowing four runs in as many innings in a 6 to 0 loss to the Diamondbacks. Prior to that loss Velasquez had only allowed five earned runs in thirty-two innings of work over his six previous starts posting an ERA of 1.39 over that span. Boston comes into this contest leading the majors in almost every offensive category but only managed five runs in taking two of three from the Phillies in 2018. Our TPR Index projects a run advantage of 1.49 runs in favor of the Phillies. Our next set of metrics look at the overall Starting Pitcher Power Ratings for tonight's contest. The Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi comes into this game with an average of 101 and the Phillies Vince Velasquez has an average of 112 with 100 as the MLB league average. The SPMatrix has Nathan Eovaldi with an average of 7.01 compared to Vince Velasquez who has an average of 7.85. Our BHOR Matrix (Bases, Hits, Outs, Runs) has a projected run advantage of 1.57 in favor of the Phillies. We want to play ON MLB home underdogs when they scored two or fewer runs for their starter in his last start 336-390 SU (+2637). We want to play ON MLB home teams with a total over eight when they scored two or fewer runs for their starter in his last start 645-528 SU (55%) (+3144). Finally we note the Phillies are 59-33 SU (64.1%) (+2794) when playing at home. With solid support on the bump and significant momentum numbers for the home team we will back the Phillies as they salvage the series split with a victory on Wednesday night.

The third and final game of the Nationals vs. Cubs series takes place Sunday night in the Second City. This matchup features a pair of teams that should be playing in the postseason as the Cubs trail the Brewers by two in the NL Central while the Nationals are currently five back of the Phillies in the NL East. The Cubs will send left-hander Cole Hamels to the bump with his 7-9 SU record and his ERA of 4.38 on the season. Hamels will be making his debut in a Cubs uniform at Wrigley Field Sunday night. Hamels has had some success pitching at Wrigley he tossed a no-hitter back in 2015 and has a record of 3-1 SU with an ERA of 1.76 in six trips to the bump. Hamels has a career record of 16-9 SU with an ERA of 2.67 versus the Nationals although the most recent starts came back in 2015. The Nationals will send right-hander Max Scherzer to the hill with his record of 15-5 SU and his ERA of 2.28 on the year. Scherzer is making a case for what would be his fourth Cy Young Award and he is a threat to toss a no-hitter every time he takes the mound. In his last outing he was not involved in the decision even though he tossed seven innings of one-run ball on four hits versus the Braves. Scherzer hasnt lost since July 5th posting five consecutive quality starts. Scherzer is 3-1 SU with a 2.92 ERA in his six starts versus the Chicago Cubs. Our TPR Index projects a run advantage of 1.42 runs in favor of the Nationals. Our next set of metrics look at the overall Starting Pitchers Power Ratings for tonight's contest. Cole Hamels comes into this game with an average of 112 and Max Scherzer has an average of 149 with 100 as the MLB league average. The SPMatrix has Cole Hamels with an average of 5.98 compared to Max Scherzer who has an average of 11.87. Our BHOR Matrix (Bases, Hits, Outs, Runs) has a projected run advantage of 1.53 in favor of the Nationals. We want to play AGAINST MLB home underdogs in the last game of a series following a game in which they allowed five or more walks 143-208 SU (40.7%) (+1520 against). One of our best MLB systems is active again in this contest it has produced several winners for us recently and we are playing on it again tonight. Play ON MLB road favorites of -130 or more playing with no rest following a game in which they allowed twelve or fewer hits. This system produced a winner for us on Saturday and the record now stands at 2544-1616 SU (61.2%) (+8502). With the Nationals ace on the mound and the better overall offense based on our matrix we will lay the chalk with the Washington Nationals on Sunday night.

The St. Louis Cardinals are in Kansas City taking on their Interleague rival Kansas City Royals on Saturday night playing Game Two of their three-game weekend set. The Cardinals defeated the Royals on Friday night 7 to 0 and with a win tonight they will secure another series victory. The Cardinals under interim head coach Mike Schmidt have posted a record of 14-9 SU including a very strong 7-2 SU in the month of August. That performance has allowed them to stay within three and half games of the second NL Wild Card spot. The Royals will send left-hander Danny Duffy to the bump with his 7-10 SU record and his ERA of 4.70 on the season. Duffy produced a three-game stretch in July where he allowed just one run in twenty innings of work. He has been unable to continue that over his last three outings getting pounded allowing thirteen runs over that span. Duffy is a misleading 2-0 SU with an ERA of 2.04 in his three career starts versus the Cardinals. Those performances took place a long time ago with the most recent taking place in 2016 with the two previous starts coming in 2014 and way back in 2011. The Cardinals will send rookie starter Jack Flaherty to the hill with his 5-6 SU record and an ERA of 3.27 on the year. Following a pair of losses Flaherty returned to form winning in Pittsburgh his last time out. On the hill last Sunday in Pittsburgh he allowed just three hits in six scoreless innings of work versus the Pirates. The youngster has posted at least seven strikeouts in four straight starts leading NL rookies with a total of 118 in ninety six and third innings of work. Our TPR Index projects a run advantage of 1.73 runs in favor of the Cardinals. The SPMatrix has Danny Duffy with an average of 5.02 compared to Jack Flaherty who has an average of 6.98. Our next set of metrics look at the overall Starting Pitchers Power Ratings for tonight's contest. The Royals Danny Duffy comes in with an average of 81 compared to Jack Flaherty who has an average of 126 with 100 as the MLB league average. Our BHOR Matrix (Bases, Hits, Outs, Runs) has a projected run advantage of 1.80 in favor of the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night. The Cardinals are 11-3 SU (+713) when installed as a favorite. We want to play ON MLB road favorites of -130 or more with no rest following a game in which they allowed twelve or fewer hits 2540-1614 SU (61%) (+8378). We want to play ON MLB road favorites when they are coming off a win in which they left at least eighteen men on base as long as they were not installed as a 180 or more underdog in that victory 165-90 SU (64.7%) (+4461). We want to play AGAINST AL team coming off a SU loss of more than six runs in their last game and it is not Game Four of a series 907-1125 SU (44%) (+13,376 Against). We are going to back the Birds in Kansas City on Saturday night.

The Minnesota Vikings are in the Mile High City for their Preseason Game One matchup against the Denver Broncos. Both of tonight's head coaches put a similar emphasis on winning in the preseason. In fact the Vikings head coach Jim Zimmer has a record of 13-4 SU and 12-5 against the number. In their first preseason game of the year the Vikings have been perfect the last two seasons posting a 2-0 record. The Vikings came up one game short of their ultimate goal last season losing to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles in the Conference Championship Game. During the off-season the Vikings acquired QB Kirk Cousins and former starter Case Keenum was acquired by Denver. Our TPR Index is not used during the preseason because as the name implies that is a Team Performance Rating Matrix during the preseason the players are changed so many times you cannot get a solid power rating on a team. Our PPR Ratings Matrix can produce solid power ratings for preseason games because it is as its name implies based on the individual players that will take part in the contest. The PPR Matrix has a projected 6.02 point advantage for the Vikings in this contest. The SIM Matrix has the Minnesota Vikings with a 68.56 percent advantage against the spread in tonight's contest. We are going to lay the short number with the visitors as Minnesota gets the SU and ATS victory in the Mile High City.